"Christian" Zionism
I understand that this topic can be a sensitive one, I don’t consider myself a religious scholar but out of curiosity I began reading the Bible hoping to better understand the ‘Christian Zionist’ beliefs. To the good Christian people who abhor the same things as God, I do not mean to offend you and if I do I apologize. To the Zionists, whether you label yourselves Christian or otherwise, I hope that this can help you recognize the evil you are supporting.
“Take great care about what you do and what you teach; always do this, and in this way you will save both yourself and those who listen to you” — 1 Timothy 4:15
I encourage you, regardless of faith or lack thereof, to read the Bible. I myself found it (and I still have more to read) interesting & useful , both in some practical aspects & understanding motivations/beliefs.
Bible Selection
Disclosure: The book links in this article are Amazon affiliate links, meaning that at no additional cost to you, I may receive a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
I chose a Bible ‘approved’ by the Catholic Church, The Jerusalem Bible. I read that it does a great job of translating the original content while keeping the true meaning of the words. As a bonus, JRR Tolkien was an editor/contributor.
The Old Testament
I am going to look at the Old Testament, then the New and assess the claims a bit separately. It should be noted that the as Christians, the New Testament ‘fulfills’ the Old [1].
Descendants
In terms of the Old Testament, the foundational lie the Christian Zionists tell themselves is to whom God left the land of Israel. Repeatedly in the Bible, God states it is left ‘to your descendants’. In researching, Genesis 12:3 was cited as the ‘root’ of the belief. However, if we keep reading (a thing I think VERY few people actually do) we see a key point left out by the Zionists.
“I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing” -- Genesis 12:03 “It is to your descendants that I will give this land” — Genesis 12:8 “All the land within sight I will give to you and your descendants for ever” — Genesis 13:15
There are a LOT of references to leaving the land to Abraham’s descendants, that intent is clear, so who are his descendants? Genetically speaking (and through residence/land ownership) it is modern day Palestinians. We can see in the below excerpt from ‘Zionism, an Obstacle to Peace’ that there is historical & genetic evidence tying Palestinians to the land back to the ancient Canaanites, pre-dating and persisting through the existence of ancient Israel. Even the Bible states how first the nobility were cast out than most of the others in the city. Given the context of the breaching of walls and the specificity of ‘in the city’, it likely means just that.
First deportation “all the nobles and all the notables, ten thousand of these were exiled, with all the blacksmiths and metalworkers; only the poorest people in the country were left behind” -- 2 Kings 24:14 Second deportation “The commander of the guard demolished the walls surrounding Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard, deported the remainder of the population left behind in the city, the deserters who had gone over to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the common people. The commander of the guard left some of the humbler country people as vineyard workers and ploughmen.” — 2 Kings 25:10-12
A Conditional Gift
In the Bible we see that God demanded that his people adhere to his word. When they did not, when they displeased them HE stripped them of their land. God warned them what would happen if they failed to serve him.
Historians aren’t set exactly on the dates, but the kingdom of Israel existed roughly around 1000 BC after Solomon’s death (~930BC) it split. It was later conquered by Assyrians in ~722 BC. Judah would hold out for a time until the reign of Manasseh doomed it. Though Manasseh’s heir was like his father (displeasing to God), the reign of Josiah was not displeasing to God. Despite much effort God had not forgiven the Israelites their sins. Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon eventually laid siege to and conquered Jerusalem. As noted earlier, he deported people of note, NOT everyone.
God said to Abraham “You on your part shall maintain my Covenant yourself and your descendants after you, generation after generation.” —Genesis 17:09 Excerpts from Deuteronomy 27:15-26: “A curse on him who displaces his neighbour’s boundary mark” “A curse on him who tampers with the rights of the stranger, the orphan and the widow” “A curse on him who strikes down his neighbour in secret” “A curse on him who accepts a bribe to take an innocent life”
“for failing to serve… Yahweh will raise against you a far-off nation from the ends of the earth, like an eagle taking wing. This will be a nation whose language you do not understand.” — Deuteronomy 28:47-50 ”The King of Assyria invaded the whole country and, coming to Samaria, laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah on the Habor, a river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.” — 2 Kings 17:05 “This happened because the Israelites had sinned against Yahweh their God” — 2 Kings 17:07 “He did what is displeasing to Yahweh, copying the shameful practices of the nations whom Yahweh had dispossessed for the sons of Israel” — 2 Kings 21:2 “Manasseh shed innocent blood, too, in such great quantity that he flooded Jerusalem from end to end, apart from the sins into which he led Judah by doing what is displeasing to Yahweh” — 2 Kings 21:16 “Yet Yahweh did not renounce the heat of his great anger which blazed out against Judah because of all the provocation Manasseh had offered him. Yahweh decreed, “I will thrust Judah away from me too, as I have already thrust Israel; I will cast away Jerusalem, this city I had chosen, and the Temple of which I had said: There my name shall be.” — 2 Kings 23:26 “The End of Israel Why have you ploughed iniquity, reaped injustice, and eaten the produce, lies? Because you have trusted in your chariots, and in your host of warriors, turmoil is going to break out in your towns, and all your fortresses will be laid waste, as Shalman laid Beth-arbel waste on the day of the battle, when mothers fell, dashed to pieces, on their children. That is what I mean to do to you, House of Israel, because of your great wickedness; and in the storm the king of Israel is going to disappear forever” — Hosea 10:13 “Lament for Israel Listen to this oracle I speak against you, it is a dirge, House of Israel: She is down and will rise no more, the virgin of Israel. There she lies all alone on her own soil, with no one to lift her up; for thus says the Lord Yahweh to the House of Israel: The town which used to put a thousand in the field will be left with a hundred, and the one which used to put a hundred will be left with ten.” — Amos 5:1 “No special privileges for Israel Are not you and the Cushites all the same to me, sons of Israel? — it is Yahweh who speaks. Did not I, who brought Israel out of the land of Egypt, bring the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Aramaeans from Kir? Now, my eyes are turned on the sinful kingdom, to wipe it off the face of the earth” — Amos 9:07
Old Testament Ending thoughts
Seven Things hateful to God There are six things that Yahweh hates, seven that his soul abhors;
a haughty look
a lying tongue
hand that shed innocent blood
a heart that weaves wicked plots
feet that hurry to do evil
a false witness who lies with every breath
a man who sows dissension among brothers
— Proverbs 6:16-19
We see the sins of the people of Israel leads to God allowing for them to be conquered in 2 Kings. We see God mentioning several times how Israel was destroyed for its sins in the Old Testament. In Amos 9:10, God states the “sinners of my people are going to perish by the sword”. Amos 9:11 speaks of re-building, “That day I will re-erect the tottering hut of David”, yet we see clearly, God has little sympathy for those who sin & don’t truly follow him. In Ezekiel 11 again God speaks of a new covenant, yet he closes with “But those whose hearts are set on their idols and their filthy practices I will call to account for their conduct”. We see more specifications of sin later in Ezekiel (below).
“The Lord Yahweh says this: City shedding blood inside yourself to bring your hour closer, setting up idols on your soil to defile yourself, you have incurred guilt by the blood you have shed, you have defiled yourself with the idols you have made, you have brought your hour closer, you have come to the end of your time…. —Ezekiel 22:03
“Near and far, they will scoff at you, the turbulent city with a tarnished name: where all the princes of Israel live, each one busy shedding blood, and a law to himself; where people despise their fathers and mothers; where they ill-treat the settler; where they oppress the widow and the orphan; where you have no reverence for my sanctuaries and profane my sabbaths; where informers incite to bloodshed;…” —Ezekiel 22:05-09
“…where people take bribes for shedding blood; you charge usury and interest, you rob your neighbor by extortion, you forget all about me — it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks”— Ezekiel 22:12
We saw earlier, that the genetic descendants of ancient Israelites are modern Palestinians. God had enacted his punishment on the kingdom of Israel, destroying it for its sins, often highlighting idol worship & shedding innocent blood. There is nothing I saw stating that Jewish people from diverse backgrounds should be thrust upon Palestine and shed MORE innocent blood to ‘reclaim’ a kingdom that God destroyed. It seems far-fetched that the Nakba and now the ongoing Genocide is what God would seek from his people. The massacres that zionism required and still requires to this day are reminiscent of the very sins that led to the destruction of the Kingdom is Israel to begin with.
The New Testament
Reading the New Testament, there are a few things that stand out. First, NO WHERE do I see God prefacing anything on Zionists being in Palestine (the land of Ancient Israel). I believe the simple truth that killing innocents is sinful, and indeed hateful to God as described in the Old Testament. I think Timothy is pivotal here, “Some people have put conscience aside and wrecked their faith in consequence”, for one truly must put their conscience aside in order to support the slaughter of innocents.
Knowing the facts of how AIPAC has worked its way through our government, Titus, speaking on those who teach falsehoods “with the vile motive of making money” sounds particularly applicable to those pushing for blind support of zionism, especially those claiming to do so because of their ‘Christian faith’. Titus is again applicable, “They claim to have knowledge of God but the things they do are nothing but a denial of him; they are outrageously rebellious and quite incapable of doing good”.
To solidify that there is no ‘Biblical command’ to push modern zionists into Palestine, in Hebrews it states “They abandoned that covenant of mine, and so I on my side deserted them”. It discusses a new covenant later stating “By speaking of a new covenant, he implies that the first one is already old”. Hebrews states that one must “Always be wanting peace with all people”. Furthermore, 1 Corinthians gives further warnings “These things all happened as warnings for us, not to have the wicked lusts for forbidden things that they had”.
Romans asserts that ‘Jews are still the chosen people’ though earlier it states “Pain and suffering will come to every human being who employs himself in evil—Jews first, but Greeks as well; renown, honour & peace will come to everyone who does good—Jews first, but Greeks as well. God has no favorites” —Romans 2:09 . Regardless, again in Hebrews we see how there is a ‘New Sanctuary’ “and he is the minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tent of Meeting which the Lord, and not any man, set up" — Hebrews 8:02 . This appears to be in contrast to the earthly sanctuary of the first covenant (Hebrews 9:01).
"A warning, and the lessons of Israel's History I want to remind you, brothers, how our fathers were all guided by a cloud above them and how they all passed through the sea. They were all baptised into Moses in this cloud and in this sea; all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, since they all drank from the spiritual rock that followed them as they went, and that rock was Christ. In spite of this most of them failed to please God and their corpses littered the desert. These things all happened as warnings for us, not to have the wicked lusts for forbidden things that they had..." -- 1 Corinthians
“But when the Rebel comes, Satan will set to work: there will be all kinds of miracles and deceptive show of signs and portents, and everything evil that can deceive those who are bound for destruction because they would not grasp the love of the truth which could have saved them. The reason why God is sending a power to delude them and make them believe what is untrue is to condemn all who refused to believe in the truth and chose wickedness instead” — 2 Thessalonians 2:09-12
“Some People have put conscience aside and wrecked their faith in consequence” — 1 Timothy 1:19
“Opposing the false teachers
And in fact you have there a great many people who need to be disciplined, who talk nonsense and try to make others believe it, particularly among those of the Circumcision. They have got to be silenced: men of this kind ruin whole families, by teaching things that they ought not to, and doing it with the vile motive of making money. It was one of themselves, one of their own prophets, who said, ‘Cretans were never anything but liars, dangerous animals and lazy; : and that is a true statement. So you will have to be severe in correcting them, and make them sound in the faith so they they stop taking notice of Jewish myths and doing what they are told to do by people who are no longer interested in the truth. To all who are pure themselves, everything is pure; but to those who have been corrupted and lack faith, nothing can be pure — the corruption is both in their minds and in their consciences. They claim to have knowledge of God but the things they do are nothing but a denial of him; they are outrageously rebellious and quite incapable of doing good.” — Titus 1:10
“…See, the days are coming — it is the Lord who speaks— when I will establish a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They abandoned that covenant of mine, and so I on my side deserted them. It is the Lord who speaks. No, this is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel when those days arrive — it is the Lord who speaks. I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. Then I will be their God and they shall be my people. There will be no further need for neighbour to try to teach neighbour, or brother to say to brother, ‘Learn to know the Lord’. No, they will all know me, the least no less than the greatest, since I will forgive their iniquities and never call their sins to mind. By speaking of a new covenant, he implies that the first one is already old. Now anything old only gets more antiquated until in the end it disappears” — Hebrews 8
“Unfaithfulness is punished
Always be wanting peace with all people, and the holiness without which no one can ever see the Lord. Be careful that no one is deprived of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness should begin to grow and make trouble; this can poison a whole community. And be careful that there is no immorality, or that any of you does not degrade religion like Esau, who sold his birthright for one single meal. As you know, when he wanted to obtain the blessing afterwards, he was rejected and, though he pleaded for it with tears, he was unable to elicit a change of heart.” — Hebrews 12:14-17
“All the same, these people who only insult anything that they do not understand are not reasoning beings, but simply animals born to be caught and killed, and they will quite certainly destroy themselves by their own work of destruction, and get their reward of evil for the evil that they do. They are unsightly blots on your society…” —2 Peter 2:12
“Second condition: keep the commandments, especially the law of loveWe can be sure that we know God only by keeping his commandments. Anyone who says, ‘I know him’, and does not keep his commandments is a liar, refusing to admit the truth.” — 1 John 2:03
Summary
False Prophets Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. can people pick grapes from Thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits. — Matthew 7:15 "Make sure that no one traps you and deprives you of your freedom by some secondhand, empty, rational philosophy based on the principles of this world instead of on Christ" -- Colossians 2:08
We can see that first off, the blood descendants of ancient Israelites are in fact modern day Palestinians. If we think of the descendants as the ‘spiritual descendants’ of Ancient Israelites, the only thing that we see from zionism common with ancient Israel is its late-stage rejection of God. Modern zionism was founded upon many sins including theft & murder of innocents. The state of Israel has these as official tools of their colonialism, along with bribing officials throughout the world (AIPAC etc) to aid them in shedding innocent blood. Zionism, therefore has no claim to Palestine, be it through blood-related ancient ties to the land or religious ones.
Again, I am not a religious scholar, I began reading the Bible to better understand ‘Christian’ zionists and I found shockingly little support for this political ideology. To Christians, it is through acceptance of Jesus Christ that people are saved, I didn’t find anything to support the NEED for “Jews to be in Palestine”. In Ephesians Paul writes “Through him, both of us have in the one Spirit our way to come to the Father”.
In Matthew we are told to “Beware false prophets” and that “You will be able to tell them by their fruits”. So I ask this of the ‘Christian’ Zionists, what are the ‘fruits’ of this belief? As Americans, we have fought several wars on its behalf, we have killed hundreds of thousands, including innocents. In Matthew, we are told of the Massacre of Innocents, where Herod killed all the male children in Bethlehem in an attempt to kill Jesus. Now, we support a genocide that has claimed the lives of over 2,000 infants. This is the ‘fruits’ of Zionism.
The flight into Egypt. The massacre of innocents. After they had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child adn do away with him'. So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I called my son out of Egypt Herod was furious when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. It was then that the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled: A voice was heard in Ramah, Sobbing and loudly Lamenting: It was Rachel weeping for her children refusing to be comforted because they were no more. -- Matthew 2:13
NOTE
I wouldn’t typically take this deep a look into a Religious belief and try to criticize it because I generally wouldn’t feel comfortable doing so. That said, the evil being done with ‘Christian zionism’ as the excuse, makes me feel more comfortable in the hopes of putting an end to the 76+ years of violence and bloodshed done in its name. I again encourage you to look at the Bible yourself and try to come up with your own conclusions.
post on ‘end times’ : https://x.com/write_diligent/status/1844091110089445554
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those that treat you badly” — Luke 6:27
“But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” — Matthew 5:44
Resources
https://www.embraceme.org/christian-zionism-course-material
This is a much more robust examination of the biblical text and fulfillment of prophecies, whereas my analysis was more ‘is zionism compatable with the Bible’
https://stephensizer.com/
I didn’t reference his work in the article but I did see a couple youtube videos of interest
Diligent-gear
https://www.diligent-gear.com/products/beware-false-prophets
I can’t thank you enough for this post. I am going to share it with family members who can’t wrap their head around the evil that the Zionist movement is doing. All glory to God!
So well done. Thank you.